The Nature Of My Game
by R. R. Grokesyn
Summary: 'Fall in love' is a funny expression, according to Astoria: falling isn't good – there's the ground and all that jazz –, so probably love isn't good too, right? So love's like a game, whoever falls, loses - and Astoria never loses; It's femslash.
1. One hot angel

In the ending of One Hot Stuck-Up Slytherin Girl, I told you guys I'd do another fic with Samantha, – just because I can't get enough of her – well, this is it! This fic puts Samantha on a whole different light and it's a lot different than my previous one, for instance, it's in third person, so I can show lots of point of views at the same time (a suggestion I had from a reviewer of Slytherin Girl). Let me know if you like it better (keep in mind I won't change styles in the middle of the fic, I'm way too paranoid about organization to do it, but I'll think about it the next time I start writing something).

Other thing you might notice is the name of the fic and the chapters – I got a bunch of my favourite rock 'n' roll songs and tried to match with the chapters, I will, of course, give credit to the band at the end of the chapters; I like to think that, if this fic ends up terrible, it will at least be an awesome playlist! Anyway, the name of the fic, "The Nature Of My Game", is a quote from the chorus of "Sympathy for the Devil", by the Rolling Stones (the Ozzy cover is also very good).

So, **warnings:** first of all, my fics feature gay characters, so if you don't like that, it's cool, go do something else; secondly, this one features a lot of infidelity and trickeries, as well as graphical description of sex scenes, so if it's not your cup of tea, back button for the win.

And, **disclaimers:** I don't own any of the songs here, I just borrowed some verses and I promise to give credit to the band in question (like I did above with Rolling Stones); Harry Potter, all its characters and scenarios are not mine, they are J.K. Rowling's; furthermore, the interpretation of Astoria Greengrass in this story is heavily influenced by all the Astorias in chikinita09 stories.

Finally, **my eternal gratitude **to my beta reader who heard me discuss the idea of this story endlessly, in an infinite babble, until couldn't find any more plot holes (I hope you guys can't find them either).

Now that we're done with all the pleasantries, on with the story!

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**Chapter 1.1: One hot angel**

Samantha woke up groggily to the sound of the alarm clock. Her barely opened eyes wandered through the room and she sighed, forcing her memory a bit longer... oh, now she remembered: Hogwarts, that's where she was. She grimaced and put her hand on her forehead, thinking about the long year ahead of her, then glanced the clock – five thirty, time to get up.

Saying that Samantha had a strict morning routine, which she maintained with almost military discipline, was a gross understatement: classes at Hogwarts started normally at eight, but Samantha woke up everyday at five thirty; took a long shower; brushed her teeth with that whitening potion she managed to finally get it right during summer; made up her hair, using her own brewed variation of Sleekeazy; put her uniform and started to do her make up – that was the part that took most time, since the mirror in the seventh year's dormitory had a clear view of Daphne Greengrass' sleeping, almost naked form; no one was awake, so she didn't bother refraining from taking a glance, or two, or maybe stare blatantly for a bit.

At seven o'clock, she was ready for breakfast, save for her high heels, which she only put when both girls were awake. She choose her favourite pair and sat on the bed, waiting for signals of consciousness of both of her roommates – and there they are: Pansy's groan and tossing; Daphne's purr and stirring; the contrast between them was almost poetic.

Rule number one of Samantha's handbook for pretending you're straight: never look at Daphne Greengrass when she just woke up, unless you want to blow your cover – with that in mind, let's continue, so, where was she? Oh, yes, high heels, she had to put those on; also, an excellent pretext to look at the floor.

"Are you better, Sam?", she heard Daphne ask with her characteristic high-pitched voice. Better? Oh, yes, Samantha left right after sorting yesterday, saying she had a... what was it? A headache, maybe?

"Yes, much better, Daph, thank you", Samantha briefly looked at the girl's green eyes and flashed a smile.

"Oh, I didn't have the chance to show my new nightgown, then!", Oh, rats..., "my mom and I bought it in Paris! Isn't it gorgeous?", damn you, unavoidable exception for rule number one! Samantha raised her eyes – oh, my, Merlin!

"It's beautiful, Daph!", Samantha's eyes twinkled and she showed her dimples once again to the girl, trying to fix her gaze in Daphne's eyes as she rattled on excitedly about the piece of clothing. Hard task, since the nightgown was revealing to say the least: it was made from thin black silk, almost transparent, with black lace in the ends, so it was like looking at Daphne in her underwear – her small, black, lace underwear. However, during those years of pretense, Samantha became a professional actress, which made her handle the challenge outstandingly.

"Daph, I'm sorry, I have to go to breakfast early. Snape wanted to see me before Potions", she threw an adoring smile at the girl when she ended her babble – it was true, but mostly she said it because she wasn't that fond of playing with fire and she was finding the temptation of sneaking a glance at Daphne's beautiful body unbearable.

"Oh, alright, I'll take a shower and meet you there in a few"

Samantha breathed freely again when she walked into the empty common room. Dangerous situation, that one. Truth to be told, being over the crush she used to have on the blonde made things a lot easier, Daphne herself is the one to thank for that.

It all started in fifth year, a stupid game of truth or dare in a Saturday night. Malfoy snuck some bottles of firewhiskey in the boys' dormitory and gathered most of their colleagues to play. People drank and drank and, after a while, they started crashing on the beds and floor, until there was one a small, very inebriate group: Daphne, Blaise, Draco and Samantha. Oh, wait, no: the first three were truly intoxicated, but Samantha, she was smarter than that, so she took a dose of Sobering Potion and was very conscious of everything, only faking her drunken state.

"I dare you, Daphne, to kiss Samantha", Draco said in a slur and sneered, causing Daphne to glower at him.

"Oh, cool! And make it hot, Daph!", Blaise complemented between chuckles and nudged Draco.

"What? No!", Daphne had a profound look of disgust, predictably.

"Yeah, it's gross, Draco", Samantha frowned a bit.

"Do it! You don't have a choice, Daph", Malfoy laughed. She protested and protested, but Malfoy didn't even bend, so Daphne neared Samantha.

"I'm sorry about this, Sam", she whispered before she leaned in.

As cliche as it seems, time stopped for Samantha as she felt Daphne's lips on hers – for the first time, she lost control, kissing Daphne back a lot more enthusiastically than she should; lucky her the girl was lost in her own haze and just grabbed the back of Samantha's head to kiss her deeper. Then Daphne abruptly pulled away, causing Samantha to come down to earth.

"Oh, Merlin!", Draco and Blaise stood there open mouthed.

"Happy now?", Daphne snapped.

"Of course not! I wanna see that again!", Draco smiled mischievously.

"In your dreams, Draco", Samantha snapped.

"Yes, enough show for both of you. I'm going to sleep. Are you coming, Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm tired", Samantha got up with Daphne's help.

"Please tell me you're continuing this in your dormitory"

"Oh, Merlin, do us a favour and shut it, Draco", Daphne exclaimed irritably and the girls left to their dormitory in silence and laid in their respective beds.

"Hey, Sam, sorry about that kiss", Daphne suddenly said.

"It's ok, Daph, Draco was very persistent about it, it's not like you had a choice"

"Yes, Draco's such a prat when he wants to", Samantha chuckled at this, "anyway, if we're lucky, he'll just forget everything in the morning. It's kind of gross, I don't want to do it again", Samantha forcefully shut her eyes, "not that I don't find you pretty, that's not it, but we're both girls, you know?"

"Yes, I know, I totally agree", Samantha felt the sharp pang.

"Argh, my head hurts, I need to sleep. Good night, Sam, sweet dreams!"

"Good night, Daphne", she said inaudibly. Sweet dreams, huh? It was almost ironic, since Samantha didn't get a wink of sleep that night. She couldn't stop thinking about Daphne, the kiss and how she yearn to do it again. The other girl's words replayed in her head endlessly, until she almost went mad: 'it's kind of gross', 'we're both girls'; she had to apply tons of make up to hide the black circles under her eyes the next day.

She barely could hide her apprehension when approaching the Slytherin table for breakfast, too. Would people comment on how she seemed very excited when kissing Daphne? Oh, Merlin, please let it not be the case!

"Hey, Samantha", Draco smiled charmingly.

"Hi, Draco", she managed a lovely smile, taking a seat next to him.

"So, did you sleep well?", Draco asked, apparently idly. Breathe, Samantha, breathe.

"Yes, thank you, and yourself?"

"I slept like a rock, but I woke up with a terrible pounding in my head"

"Oh, poor you", she stroked his hair a bit.

"So, do you remember the end of last night?", he seemed genuinely puzzled, but Samantha decided not to risk it.

"No, drank too much for that", she ended with a smirk, which earned a likewise reply.

"Oh, bloody hell! No one does, then. I asked Blaise and Daphne, they both said it was almost Obliviated of their heads!", Samantha's eyes lit up – thank you, Merlin!

Even though the kiss disappeared from everyone's mind, it caused a turmoil in Samantha's. For months she slept poorly because she couldn't help her guilt for wanting it again. She'd go out with the boys, as she always did, and frustrate herself more and more – their kisses didn't come even close to what Daphne Greengrass unwilling had done to her; she didn't even want to go further with them, unlike all the other girls in her year. Her desperation grew so much she felt the need to talk to someone about it, and there was only one person in the entire world she felt confident enough to do it: her uncle Sirius Black.

"Hey, Sam!", he greeted cheerfully.

"Hi, uncle", she smiled and sipped her tea.

"So, you wanted to talk to me about something...", her expression darkened.

"Yes"

"You seem nervous, Sam. Don't be, no matter how bad it is, it'll be fine"

"No, it won't"

"Tell me, then, and I'll prove you wrong", he smile, making her smile back. She sighed and told him the story.

"So, you fancy girls, then? Ok, what's the big problem then? I think I have missed it", he chuckled, earning a grin from his niece.

"Uncle!"

"Come on, Sam! It's nothing to be ashamed about. That's you, and I'm proud of you, no matter what", and he pulled her into a bear hug.

"Thanks", she beamed. Then he pulled away and asked:

"So, this Daphne girl, are you going after her? You seem to be pretty into her", he smirked and she made a face.

"Heavens, no! She thinks it's gross, remember?"

"I do, but if I understood correctly, she kissed you for quite a while"

"She was drunk"

"And you agreed with her, Sam, and you weren't drunk!"

"Of course I did! What was I supposed to say?"

"Well, I can teach you a few pick up lines for that", she laughed contently, for the first time in a long while.

Since then, Samantha owned up to her crush internally, though she maintained the fact in secrecy, because the traditional values carried down her family wouldn't approve such behaviours. She'd often take a good look at the girl when she was sleeping, a habit that persists – not that it was easy to resist: Daphne, like most offsprings of traditional wizarding families, was ridiculously, stereotypically beautiful. She had long, straight blonde hair; big, bright green eyes, with long, dark lashes; high cheek bones and naturally pink toned cheeks; fair, uniform toned skin; a thin, elegant nose and full, light pink lips.

The pretense worked very well – Samantha went out with boys once in a while, though their boldness was starting to disturb her; Daphne and the rest of the school seemed to not have a clue about Samantha's preferences and she was in peace with the fact.

Of course, with time passing, Samantha became more and more eager to go out with girls, so as soon as the school year ended, she started elaborating a plan to do it without being discovered, which involved a nice stock of Polyjuice Potion, a strand of hair of a random beautiful girl and gay muggle clubs. However, Polyjuice was too weak for her ends – since its duration is one exact hour – so she started studying Potions really hard to attempt to modify the formula, which made her eventually take a liking of it.

Her summer effort paid off very well, since she performed outstandingly the following year – better than the top student, Granger – and earned an invitation from Snape to join him as his assistant after a few months, which she accept without much thought; Snape's liking of her and her work also granted her a prefect title, which left both her uncle and her mother very proud. Her sixth year seemed perfect, until...

"Are you sure, Daphne?", a muffled boy's voice was heard in the silent girls' dormitory. Samantha was quiet in her bed, trying to sleep.

"Yes, you coward, people are all sleeping", followed by a kiss sound. Oh, no, please, no... "now, come here", she purred and there was that kissing sound again, "Oh, aren't you a naughty boy", and it was followed by light moans. Light moans progressed to breathy ones and screams, from both of them. Clothes were eventually tossed to the floor carelessly and the bed started to creak – ugh.

Samantha cringed, wanting desperately to disappear, but that didn't happen; she didn't fall asleep either, she couldn't. She should interrupt them, she knew it, but she didn't find the strength; she was paralyzed – she stood there quiet and heard it all, feeling her heart break with every sound Daphne made.

The couple finished, the boy snuck out and Daphne apparently fell asleep. Samantha didn't, her mind too full, so she decided to use her prefect privileges to take a night walk. She took her pair of heels in hand and walked out of the dormitory bare foot. She let herself fall on the couch near the fire and stared into it for a while, trying to erase those sounds she just heard, or the sharp pain that took over. She put a hand to her face and felt her cheek wet – she didn't remember when she started crying, she recalled only closing her eyes in an attempt to make it go away. She put the heels on and exited the common room, only coming back when she was barely keeping herself standing.

Needless to say, she didn't get much sleep that night and, when she thought it couldn't get worse...

"Sam!", Daphne smiled.

"Hi, Daph", she tried to sound enthusiastic, but noticeably failed.

"Oh, what happened? You sound terrible!", oh, shoot!

"It's nothing, I slept poorly", Daphne looked apologetically at that and Samantha realized the huge mistake she made saying that.

"Oh", she pursed her lips and averted her eyes, "I guess that's my fault", she bit her lower lip, "I'm really sorry", she looked back at Samantha with her eyes a bit wide.

"Why would it be your fault?", Samantha raised an eyebrow and mustered a smirk.

"So you didn't hear?"

"No, hear what?", Samantha sneered lazily, trying to fake her tiredness better. Daphne opened a timid, bright smile – great idea, Samantha, ask the girl about her latest shag you've been trying to forget!

"Me and Draco... slept together last night", she said, with the last part in a whisper. Samantha used all her strength to avoid grimacing, widening her smirk instead.

"Was it good?", she smiled, sounding convincingly curious.

"Oh, yes, he's a god!", of course, being Daphne, that drove the girl into a jabber about the topic and Samantha cursed herself for being such a good actress, "but I bet you know what I'm talking about, right, Sam?"

"What, sorry?", no, no, she knew nothing about Draco's sexual expertise, nor she was a tiny bit interested about knowing.

"Didn't you and Draco sleep together already?", what. the. bloody. hell! Ew, no!

"Me and Draco?", Samantha half-smirked.

"Yes, you silly. Come on, don't play dumb, you can tell me", she looked away for a bit: that phrase triggered an idea in Samantha's head – she wouldn't deny it, so people would still think she's straight without really needing to actually go to bed with the guys she went out; she couldn't confirm it, though, because if the truth surfaced, she'd be perceived as a liar. Yes, yes, that seemed perfect! Finally, she smiled fully to Daphne, looking straight into her green eyes.

"Who told you that?"

"Draco"

"Isn't he a conceited bastard?", she shook her head with a smirk plastered in her face, in mock disapproval.

"How was it?", Daphne shrieked and Samantha sneered wider with the girl taking the bait so easily.

"Well, you know, obviously. I have to go, Daph, Professor Snape asked for a report due tomorrow, I have work to finish", Samantha walked away.

"Ah, no! You are so telling me, Samantha Lestrange!", Daphne chased after.

The end of the school year was a blur to Samantha. She spent it hearing all the rumours about her and boys – boys she did nothing but make out for a tiny little while – and mostly, she tried to forget Daphne, though it was near impossible with the girl sharing the dormitory with her, which caused her decision to spent the least amount of time possible in the Slytherin dungeon. Instead, she focused all of her energies in her research for Professor Snape and earned credit enough with him to try a research of her own. It took a few more months, but she finally achieved a Polyjuice with sufficient duration – one entire day; to say Snape was impress is an understatement.

With her new improved potion, her summer vacations were quite a cure to her infatuation, because she was free to sleep with girls – that's exactly what she did; she slept with girl after girl until Daphne and their shared kiss became just another kiss in her mind.

Finally, there she was, in the first day on her seventh year, with her blonde curls neatly framing her face, eyeliner drawing her hazel greenish eyes, mascara perfectly applied on her long lashes; prefect badge shining proudly and her black stilettos clacking against the dungeon floor, attracting all the attention on the corridors to her long, toned legs, making she grin with satisfaction at every blatant stare she received on her way to the Great Hall. Finally, things were the way they should be: her way.

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There's part 1 (of 2) of chapter 1, I hope you liked the development on Samantha – I know Slytherin Girl is also Samantha-centric, but since it's narrated by Hermione, I couldn't show all of that without it turning out terribly, so I refrained to do it there. Here, though, I can show whatever I want – hail third person narrator!

Oh, and the song for both parts of chapter 1 is "Rock 'n' Roll Train", by AC/DC.


	2. One cool devil

**Chapter 1.2: One cool devil**

"Gosh, Samantha, you look more gorgeous than ever. Guess summer treated you well", Draco showed his impressively white teeth in a charming smile. Samantha grinned fully to the boy's flirt.

"Thank you, Draco, it did", she said, taking a seat in the Slytherin table and crossing her slender legs.

"So, I'm curious, what did you do?", oh, well, where to begin? Maybe that cute brunette from West London...

"Relaxed a bit, and met frequently with an alluring blond hunk – too bad he's my cousin", that made Draco sneer – so narcissist.

"As if that had ever stopped you", he whispered, staring straight into her eyes; she just bit her lip and smirked.

"That's true, but it needn't be common knowledge", she finished the sentence with a wink, "but enough about me, how was yours?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I have an alluring blonde cousin myself – terribly sexy, that girl", and he sipped his tea with a mischievous smile.

"Hey, Sam, Draco", Pansy neared both with a seemingly worried expression, "Sam, I need your help – it's Daphne. Come, I don't want it to get around", she muttered seriously. Samantha nodded and got up.

"So, I guess I see you in Potions, Draco?", she flashed the flirtatious smile again.

"Surely, beautiful", that made her simper.

"Alright", and she followed Pansy to the Slytherin common room.

"Flirting with Draco again, Samantha?", Pansy smirked and shook her head, "I thought you two over for quite a while, already"

"We are, since he and Daphne got together, actually. It's mostly idle teasing, at least on my part", Samantha flashed the girl a weak, honest smile.

"Watch out, then, Daphne's the jealous type – and she's not in her best shape today"

"Oh, yes, what happened to her? You failed to tell me"

"You'll see"

They entered the seventh year dormitory, where Daphne was sitting in bed, legs elegantly together – no matter how bad's your day, you have to keep your manners, right? – and face buried between her hands; Samantha could hear the muffled crying. On the floor, there were tufts of fallen golden hair.

"Daph!", Samantha exclaimed, with genuine concern.

"Sam, Pansy, thank Merlin", Daphne said between sobs and raised her head to face both girls – her eyes were red; her cheeks, wet. Her head had big hairless patches – Oh, Merlin!

"How did this happen, Daph?", Samantha kneeled before the girl and took her hand in an attempt to comfort the blonde – well, the now half-blonde.

"I don't know", sob, "I was only", sob, "washing my hair and it started falling off", she let the last part out in a single breath and started crying all over again.

"There, there, Daph", Samantha pulled the girl into a hug, careful not to touch her hair so it wouldn't fall off even more, "Can you show what were you using to wash your hair?"

"That bottle over there", she pointed to the nightstand without raising her head from Samantha's shoulder. Samantha looked over to Pansy and mouthed, "take care of her for a bit", which Pansy promptly obeyed, freeing Samantha to examine the bottle.

It looked like a normal hair potion bottle, consistency seemed fine, the smell... oh, Merlin, ew! How could Daphne just ignore this stench? Well, alright, she's not famous for being smart, quite the contrary, by the way.

"Daph, I'll take this to my Potions study room, ok? It seems someone replaced your normal hair potion to play a prank on you", Daphne's eyes widen, then she scowled furiously.

"Astoria!", she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Calm down, Daph, stay here, I'm going to find an antidote for it; I'll explain the situation to Professor Snape so you needn't worry about Potions class"

"Oh, thank you, Sam, you're so sweet", Samantha smiled.

"You're welcome, Daph"

Samantha trotted out of the dormitory very determined to get the situation fixed – so determined she almost failed to notice the smirking girl reading on the couch. No time for interruptions, Samantha, you got yourself a task to accomplish! However, it didn't stop her from taking a glance at the figure; it was enough to figure out the girl's identity: with that blonde hair, green eyes, high cheekbones and pleased simper, it couldn't be anyone else other than Astoria Greengrass. Anyway, as said earlier, no time, so she rushed to meet Professor Snape.

She walked in the very familiar dim-lit office.

"Hello, Professor", she tried to neutralize her worry to live up to the formality expected from her when dealing with a superior.

"Miss Lestrange, finished breakfast early, I see", he barely raised his eyes to acknowledge her.

"I didn't quite finish it, I was interrupted", that got his attention and he looked into Samantha's eyes, "a student played a practical joke on my dormitory colleague, Daphne Greengrass"

"Astoria again, I assume", he took a deep sigh, "what did she do, this time?"

"A rather efficient hair loss potion", another sigh from the professor, "Professor, would you mind if both of us are excused from today's class to solve this situation"

"Fine, Miss Lestrange. Be sure to tutor Miss Greengrass on Laxative Potion later, she isn't my finest student"

"You needn't worry, Professor, I will"

"We talk about your tasks after dinner, then"

"Alright. Now, if you excuse me", he nodded and she went off.

Samantha spent quite a while analyzing the hair potion, then carefully selected the ingredients to brew an antidote so none would conflict and cause side effects; after over an hour, she was back in the dormitory handling a vial to Daphne.

"Here, Daph, that should help", the girl poured the liquid over her and had fits of excitement when she saw her hair growing back to normal.

"Oh, Sam, thank you so much!", she hugged the girl strongly, "I wouldn't be able to handle this without you!"

"Don't worry, I'm glad your hair is back to normal – you always had the prettiest hair, after all, it would be a shame to lose it all", Samantha smiled as the girl giggled.

"I'm gonna so kill that prat", Daphne left, wand in hand and angry expression. Samantha followed her to the common room, taking a seat on the armchair near the fire and opening her latest read on Potions. She wouldn't have classes in the next hour, unlike most Slytherin students, which rendered an unusual silence in the common room. However, it didn't last very long.

"So, you're Daphne's rescuer. Again. You have no sense of humour, you know?", lovely scottish accent, Samantha thought and raised her eyes to encounter her interrupter's – bad idea, the sight made her hold her breath: there stood Astoria Greengrass, looking exactly like the Daphne she kissed two years ago, she even had the same messy, I'm-too-drunk-to-care (or alternatively, I-just-had-earth-shattering-sex) hairstyle – except Astoria seemed sober; and devious. Her year and a half crush on Daphne seemed to come back full strength with the new target, which was not good, in all ways possible.

"Your sister's looking for you, Astoria", she tried to keep her posture.

"Of course she is", Astoria smirked, "I made half of her hair fall off", the smirk grew into a devilish grin from ear to ear. Samantha open her mouth to repress the girl's wicked behaviour, but nothing came out of it – damn nervousness! – and Astoria had the chance to interrupt, "don't start a moral speech – I get those enough, already", Samantha curled the corner of her lip.

"I bet you do", Samantha sneered and returned her eyes to the book on her lap, for the sake of her self-control.

"Anyway, you could stop helping my sister; I'll get into trouble for it now and no one knew about the bald Daphne Greengrass incident", Samantha looked at the girl for a brief moment, then lowered her eyes again, suppressing a chuckle at the girl's words.

"Or else?", she risked a monotonic, boring tone, and was quite successful.

"Well, nothing, I'm just asking nicely", Samantha looked at the girl again – even when she was smiling she seemed mean, "anyway, carry on with your studies", Astoria smirked and walked away, leaving Samantha uneasy and suspicious.

A week later, Samantha, Pansy and Daphne were chatting idly in the Slytherin common room when Astoria waltzed in, grin plastered on her pretty face. The conversation came to an awkward stop and Daphne followed her sister's moves with a glare. Unexpectedly, she took a seat next to Samantha and smiled.

"Hi, Samantha", she narrowed her eyes, grin still wide and malicious. Samantha smiled weakly in reply, looking into the girl's bright green eyes and growing tense from it.

"Hello, Astoria", Samantha's gaze went to Pansy, who looked a bit shocked, then to Daphne, who was visibly, and sort of predictably, fuming; she wondered if she was showing off her emotions as much as the other girls – she hoped not.

"You have such beautiful thighs, Samantha, I don't know how people manage to concentrate around you", she bit her lip and took a indiscreet look at said thighs. Oh, Merlin, had she noticed Samantha's reactions towards her? That's bad, that's really, really bad... wait, wait, get a grip, Samantha, she hasn't confirmed it yet, so play cool and you'll be fine – maybe she's just doing it to irritate Daphne (which would come as a shocker, wouldn't it?).

"Why, thank you, Astoria", and Samantha smiled politely, maintaining eye contact with the girl and a straight face, though it was harder than hard.

"Well, I better go before it gets too hot in here", yes, too hot – not only for Astoria, though; Samantha's feeling it equally well with the devil's blatant pick up line. Gosh, good times when she was nowhere near falling for that! Astoria got up, confident smile never even faltering and disappeared behind the fifth year dormitory doors. Samantha discreetly released her breath.

"What was that all about?", Pansy broke the silence.

"She appeared to be hitting on me, but a tad too gratuitous in my opinion, I reckon it's an act", Samantha stated and gave a shrug – terrific actress, she is, because inside, she was almost hyperventilating.

"It better be. My sister shagging girls is the last thing I need; she's bad enough already", Daphne rolled her eyes irritably.

Whether an act or not, the scene repeated itself a lot on the following days, until Daphne finally couldn't stand it any longer.

"Why don't you just say something back, Samantha? This little habit my sister developed is disgusting", Samantha sighed, looking straight into the girl's eyes. She knew Daphne using her full name was never good, so she needed all the patience she could muster to deal with the situation.

"What should I say? She seems to be pleased enough with your irritation, Daph, I wouldn't want to give her yet another reason to be proud"

"Do you honestly think she's doing it just to mess with me?", oh, Merlin, how can you be so smart, Daphne, it's impressive.

"I do. She doesn't even look at me when I'm not with you"

"Oh", Samantha smiled at Daphne's idiotic reaction, "Merlin, look at the time! I'll be late for History of Magic. Catch with you later, Sam!", and the blonde rushed out of the common room, leaving Samantha to her Charms book.

"You do get a kick out of ruining my fun, don't you, Samantha?", Samantha grinned at the girl without taking her eyes from the book – never wise to look directly at Astoria's eyes without a good reason –, noticing the light scottish accent surfacing again.

"It is quite enjoyable, I admit. You're terribly charming hitting on girls, by the way, Astoria, so subtle", that made the younger girl let out a chuckle.

"So I succeeded in seducing you?"

"No, I'm not that easy"

"Not what I heard", Samantha finally looked at the girl, frowning, but with a slight grin.

"Your blatancy shocks me, you know that?", Samantha suddenly became aware of how British she sounded – maybe it was the accent contrast getting to her.

"I like to think of it as honesty", Astoria beamed, inflating her chest a bit in mock pride.

"Well, I guess you're right, but not to girls", Samantha raised an eyebrow as she told the shameless lie.

"We'll see about that", Astoria licked her lip, which sent Samantha into a fit of laughter.

"Alright then, Casanova", and Samantha went to her dormitory without a glance back. Even though she was terribly cliche all the time, Astoria's confidence seemed to get to Samantha easily and the way she stared, apparently desire filled, was driving Samantha wild – and worse: making her wish it was serious.

She opened the drawer in her nightstand to get a piece of parchment. Wait... there's something odd: the Transfiguration book should be under the Potions one – Samantha recalled using the Potions on the day before and the other, well, she hadn't opened it in the term.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_", the piece of parchment floated in the air and Samantha took a closer look, then landed it on the bed.

"_Specialis Revelio_", and the parchment lit bright blue – oh, Astoria, Astoria, were you trying to mess with me? Poor you. Blue burning spell, she put, right? That little devil will learn what happens when you play with fire.

Samantha grabbed her Potions book and went back to the common room, finishing the reading of a chapter she was researching with Professor Snape. She watched Astoria leave the Slytherin dungeon, floated her parchment to the fifth year dormitory and exchanged hers with Astoria's. Now it was just a matter of time, so she resumed her reading peacefully.

Later, in the evening, she heard a pain-filled scream – bullseye! She walked calmly to the fifth year dorm and opened the door to see Astoria's arms enveloped with the predictable blue flames. She leaned against the doorway.

"Never underestimate my sense of humour, Astoria. _Aguamenti_", a water blast hit the younger Greengrass, extinguishing the fire and leaving the girl soaking wet, "see, now you can even tell me and your sister how wet you are because of me", the words rolled from her tongue like poison and she bit her lip in amusement.

Seconds passed with the two girls staring at each other, Astoria carrying an adorable amused irritated look; Samantha, the usual smirk. Then Astoria burst into laughter, an honest, maniac belly laughter that Samantha couldn't help but find lovely; it even made her let out a few giggles herself.

"Okay, fair played. You know, for someone who associates with my sister, you're way better than expected. And smarter, much smarter; but then again, it can be my point of reference – Daphne's dumber than a rock", that made Samantha chuckle.

The next days showed Samantha that her prank on Astoria put her on a position of respect to the younger girl – Astoria greeted Samantha with a sincere smile every time they ran into each other and they even engaged in some idly chatting about Transfiguration, Astoria's favourite subject. Despite the new civilities, somethings never changed, for instance, Astoria's flirts with Samantha to piss Daphne off. At least, that's what Samantha thought, but one day her concept about it changed completely.

It was a saturday, people went off to Hogsmeade, but Samantha stayed to complete a cursed report for Snape – a potion she simply couldn't figure out what was wrong, despite several attempts. She frowned in irritation at her copy of _Moste Potente Potions_ and decided to take five. Just then, Astoria walked in.

"Hey, Samantha, how's the report going?", she flashed her white grin.

"Hi, Astoria. How do you know?", Samantha had an amused frown.

"You told Pansy and Daphne in the common room, I heard it", she stated matter-of-factly

"It makes sense. Anyway, not very well, I'm having a hard time figuring out my mistake. It doesn't make much sense, things going wrong in this way", she focused on a random point ahead of her and scowled in concentration. Astoria watched the scene and giggled, "What?"

"You look really cute when you're engrossed with Potions"

"Excuse me?", another amused frown.

"What? I thought you were used to me flirting with you already", the playful, confident grin persisted, despite the slightly tense situation.

"Yes, I am – your sister's nowhere near us, though, I can't understand the point of it", for the first time, Astoria's smile faltered a tad.

"Well, sorry, then", she huffed, looking hurt, which Samantha was truly surprised about.

"Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it, I just thought you were solely trying to irritate her...", Samantha let herself babble the apology until Astoria giggled again.

"You're right, but I wanted to see your reaction when she wasn't present", Samantha cursed herself – the little devil! Almost made Samantha blow her cover. Samantha's eyes narrowed at the girl, "hey, hey, don't be mad! I'm sorry, ok?", she put on an adorable face and looked at Samantha with her big green eyes, which looked very innocent, for the first time.

"Alright", Samantha flashed a charming smile and admitted it was a little hard to stay angry at the girl.

"So, do you really have no problem with that?", Astoria hinted a devious smile, which seemed much more in character than her previous pure look.

"I don't", Samantha curled one corner of her lip.

"That's cool", she slumped back in the couch, "Daphne thinks it's utterly gross", Astoria would never expect how aware Samantha was about that specific fact, "but what if I try to kiss you? Like, right know",

"You needn't bother trying", and Samantha straddled the girl and they started snogging... no, just kidding, that's what she wanted to happen. In the real world, she couldn't afford risking it all like that, so Samantha summoned all her strength to resist the temptation of jumping on Astoria.

"I'd pull away and blow you off", Samantha stated seriously.

"That's a shame, you know", Astoria winked playfully and grinned, presumably trying to play it cool, "anyway, you should get back to your work, I see you later", and she went off, leaving Samantha aching for the kiss she just missed.

* * *

That's the end of chapter 1 (or chapter 2, if you feel more comfortable)! I hope you liked my Astoria, I find her so interesting to write about! Anyway, the song for this chapter's still "Rock 'n' Roll Train", by AC/DC (completing the first verse of it, "One hot angel, one cool devil")


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